Film Friday: UnsatisFactory Girl

After what feels like a surprisingly long gap of film festivals in the city, they’re back, with The Prisoner Justice Film Festival now running and Ozflix starting tonight with screenings of Ten Canoes and 2:37; We pretty much hated2:37, though (but we’ve heard good things about Ten Canoes). Full details can be found at their respective websites.
If you’re looking for a romantic trip to the cinema this week, what with it being Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, the Bloor is showing Annie Hall, Casablanca and The Fountain; which sounds romantic until you consider two are about doomed relationships and the other one is about death. They don’t twist it as far as the Royal, whoever, who are showing Manhattan and then Blue Velvet! What’s with Woody Allen and Valentine’s day? He’s not an example to be followed!
(And as an aside: Shouldn’t one of our independent cinemas try and pick up Inland Empire for a short run, if that would even be possible?)
The romantic film of the week is definitely Music and Lyrics, starting Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant as a couple of song writers who don’t get on for a while and then fall in love (probably). Now’s John Harkness says“A recent scientific study determined that Drew Barrymore is the most adorable thing on the planet, narrowly beating out six-week-old yellow Lab puppies.”
We’d like to see him back that up with some references.A film almost certainly made without any references is Factory Girl, about Edie Sedgwick, who was briefly connected to that Andy Warhol feller. Lou Reed called it “one of the most disgusting, foul things I’ve seen by any illiterate retard in a long time.” Which, while not very PC, certainly means he hasn’t seen Because I Said So.
Also out this week is Hannibal Rising, which we agree with Eye’s Jason Anderson should have been set in space (Hannibal has to be the most over-rated villain of all time), SK8 Life, which Torontoist officially bans anyone from seeing because of its stupid, stupid title (but if you were going to see it, it’s on at the Royal and the Vancouverite director will be there for the screening tonight at 7 p.m.) Eddie Murphy vehicle Norbit (“a loud, resolutely unpleasant slapstick comedy plotted by committee” according to Eye’s Adam Nayman) and The Lives of Others, which we’re sure we mentioned last week and is apparently ace.
Finally, not to forget Cinematheque Ontario’s fine offerings for the week, with the beginning of their retrospective of Jacques Rivette’s work, which includes the idiotically lengthy Out 1: Noli Me Tangere; being screened in two parts because it’s 12 hours long. He did many films shorter than that; perhaps check one of those ones out if you can’t spare the time.